Insulation

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

I realize that it's probably a dumb time of year to be thinking about insulating my house, but what can I say, now is when I have the money for it.

Can anyone recommend an insulation installer/contractor in the area? Particularly, do you know anything about "All Weather Green Insulation" in Swampscott? They seem to be the nearest company that does Air-Krete.

Comments

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

I don't know about the company you specifically asked about, but I don't think now is a dumb time of year to insulate. we just added insulation about 3 weeks ago, because it timed out with the re-shingling of the building, allowing them to shingle from the outside rather than the inside. I suggest looking into the rebates and tax credits around improving the energy efficiency of your home. If you heat with gas, there is a list of companies that can provide the insulation. my husband says talks to MassEnergy and MassSaves. Mass Saves is who the rebates are through. we were able to get a sizable rebate for updating our furnace. . . and good luck!

[pjmorgan.livejournal.com]

Are you looking to insulate walls, attic or both? If walls, what kind of siding do you have?

MassSave

[blalor.livejournal.com]

Give the folks at MassSave a call. I contacted Rogers Insulation to get my attic insulated this past spring. The guy I spoke with told me to get in touch with MassSave because they've got a program that will help with the cost of insulating your whole house. The program in 2010 was 75% of the cost of the insulation work (materials and labor) up to $2,000. I ended up paying about $400 to have insulation blown into my attic, gable vents installed in the attic, and air sealing throughout the house (which was actually a separate no-cost thing for me). It's made a huge difference: my upstairs is now uncomfortably warm and the furnace is running far less than it was last year.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

"All Weather Green Insulation" from Swampscott is doing my next door neighbor's house. I have no idea whether they are any good, but they sure do seem to be taking a long while. Maybe it's only that there's so much to do.

[allthefishies.livejournal.com]

We were very happy with Tom Lawler from RetroFoam. They did our 2-family cedar shingled home in about 2 weeks - blown in insulation to the walls, bat insulated the basement and the attic.

**Edited to add** - we also got ours done 2 Januaries ago. Got our windows done in February, also.

[davelew.livejournal.com]

MassSave will pay for 75% of approved insulation (up to a maximum of $1500 rebate), after doing a free energy audit to identify the problem areas.

MassSave will also pay for unlimited air sealing.

The federal government, up until 12/31/2010, would give you a tax rebate of 30% of insulation costs, so you could actually make 5% profit immediately from having your home insulated. I have heard that this program was renewed for 2011 in the last tax-cut-for-the-wealthy compromise bill, but I'm not sure.

[artguychris.livejournal.com]

Check out Nstar's website for a list of rebates. They'll point you to MassSave or their own program depending on what form(s) of energy you use.

Note that they also offer rebates on thermostats, CFL bulbs, and many energy star rated appliances.

an odd review

[forgotten-aria.livejournal.com]

http://www.byggmeister.com/ byggmeister did A+ work on our window replacements including almost matching our orginial window trim, but then recommended that before we got the house insulated we'd have to correct our basement's water issue to prevent mold growing. The price for the basement water mitigation system was too steep for us to proceed.

So they seem to do good quality work, but sometimes that's not what you want. Sometimes you just want your house to be warmer.

[somervilleguy.livejournal.com]

http://www.jonesboysinsulation.com/

Re: timing is everything

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Your comment is a perfect example of the maxim, "if you can't say anything nice [or helpful], don't say anything at all."

I realize that you were parroting my own words when you called me dumb, but what possible value could you think you were adding to the conversation by it? What's the use of telling me that I missed out on a tax credit, other than to make me feel bad?

For what it's worth, I am and was aware of the tax credit. But like I said, I just didn't have the money for it last week. My end-of-year bonus came through on the 31st. In theory I could have borrowed against it, I suppose; but the fact is, I didn't, and now I'm prepared to pay whatever it takes. So here I come looking for recommendations, and all you've got is snark. Thanks, but no thanks.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I've actually been through the NStar energy audit process a few years ago, and they offered me the insulation but I couldn't afford it at that point. I assume that I'm not eligible for another audit, but I guess it couldn't hurt to call and ask.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

How big is the house? How long is a "long while"? It says on their website that it usually takes 2-3 days.

Re: timing is everything

[sdogood1722.livejournal.com]

didn't mean to be mean. sorry. :(

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

ha, just noticed i said "shingle from the outside". what I meant was blow the insulation from the outside! sorry.

nstar audit & credit

[msiebler.livejournal.com]

you can get another one; i did that as well and they will do a new one just about every year

Re: nstar audit & credit

[masswich.livejournal.com]

You can get a new one but I have found the MassSaves process to be (intentionally) difficult to get through. The utilities don't want to give out the rebates so they created this byzantine process you have to get through to access them.

If you are willing to wait and also willing to be a little pushy its a great deal. But I contacted them in August and I am still in "the process." I hope to have that insulation in time for next winter...

In the past - without the Masssaves rebates - I have used Hughes Energy out of JP/Hyde Park - they are inexpensive and honest.

[joev.livejournal.com]

Get the free home energy assessment through http://www.masssave.com/ (you can do this even if you've done it before.) The inspecting contractor will make recommendations of work to have done (with possible roadblocks that need to be resolved first), and offer to quote it out for you. Get it quoted through them, but then also get a quote from another contractor or two on Mass Save's approved contractor list (which the inspecting contractor should have given you, but you can call Mass Save to tell you where on their website it is -- it's kind of hidden.) I did this, and ended up getting work done by http://homeworksenergy.com/ , who did a good job for much less than the inspecting contractor quoted me.